3strangeknightssaga

Episode 31

 

Bill or rather, ‘Fry Cook 1’, had sent the directions to Area 51 to the on board navigation systems of the Hummers.

We flew through the streets of Vegas, guns blazing and tires squealing.

The Mini guns tore the ‘Deaders’ to pieces, making the journey much easier then it had been in Roberts RV.

Soon we were past the city limits. Without the confines of streets and buildings. The undead parade widened out. Soon we were in the dessert.

The beautiful expanse of the clear blue sky full of twinkling stars was an awesome contrast to the mayhem we had witnessed in the last few days.

I paused for a moment, took a deep breath of the clean fresh air and tried to relax my shoulders.

The wind blowing through my hair caused my scalp to sting where my hair had ripped out. All and all it could have been worse

My mind wondered for a bit as we traveled into the darkness.

I have done many events in my short lifetime. In many different places and with many different people. I felt blessed that when the ‘shit’ had it the fan, I was with these people.

We traveled for an hour or so as the western horizon began to brighten with red, orange and yellow hues.

Off in the distance from I could see the silhouette of a razor wire topped fence.

A few more minute past and we came to a high gate.

Done the fence from the gate I could see areas where the ‘Deader’s’ had breeched the fence line from the shear weight of their numbers.

The filed through the openings and paid little attention to us now that they were so close to the otherworldly beacon that beckoned them.

“Just a second.” Snipe said. “ I’ll have this gate open in no time.”

He started exit the Hummer when the thunder of Stevil Mini-gun exploded through the night air.

The locking mechanism of the gate disappeared in a shower of sparks.

“Okay,” Snipe said, “That works too.”

Snipe revved the Hummers engine and plowed through the gate.

We followed closely behind.

On the dashboard navigation system, a flashing red dot highlighted the building we needed to get to.

We flew across the base that the government had insisted was not a reality. The building that we needed to get to was on the far side of a vast open area and appeared to be a bunker of some sort.

It was surrounded by zombies milling about trying to get in.

The sound of their moaning was deafening and had a nearly bowel loosening effect.

As we sped toward the bunker Stevil and I had the Mini-guns a blazing. Wide swaths of the undead turned to gray green mist as the hot steel tore then to shreds.

Robert and Snipe slid the Hummers to a sideways halt right in front of a huge metal door.

Stevil and I kept the zombies at bay as Robert, Snipe and the girls exited the vehicles.

As Snipe went to work on the door’s electronic lock. Robert and the warrior women unleashed as much fire power as they could to keep the ’Deaders’ at bay as Stevil and I jumped down from the Mini’s.

Snipe finally got the door open and we all rushed inside. Once we were all in, Snipe pushed the heavy door shut.

The door closed with an ominous boom that echoed down the halls of the bunker.

It was deathly quite and yet the hairs on the back of my head began to rise. The air was thick with a feeling of foreboding.

“Does this make anyone else think of the ’Under the Mountain Scene’ in ’Lord of the Rings?’

Robert asked.

As if to punctuate his comment, unearthly scream came boiling up from the depths of the complex.

“I’m scared, Mr. Frodo.” I said.

Episode 32

 

The neither worldly scream that we had just heard, did not, sound like a ‘Deader’. It sounded much bigger.

I looked down the hall and noticed that all the lights were dead. Yet I could see several yards down what should have been a dark hallway.

I heard Robert’s voice, “Holy crap!”

I turned around to see everyone staring at Gypsy. Her eyes were jet black orbs of infinite depth, and her entire body was engulfed in a cold white silver flame.

No one was standing next to her because, hey, I’m sorry, It was really freaky.

“Gyp’, You Okay?” Snipe asked attentively.

Her voice sounded far away and yet as crystal clear as a silver bell, “I am quite well Patrick.”

“Oooookay then,” Snipe said, “We had better get moving.”

“What about that, That thing we just heard?” Stevil asked.

“We’ll kill that Zombie when we come to it.” Snipe answered.

“It sounded like that huge creature from the Lord of the Rings.” Robert said. “The Rancor.”

“The Rancor, was the pit creature in ’The Empire Strikes Back.” Trey corrected.

Snipe spoke up, “If you two are done geeking out, we need to get moving. Besides there is no use scaring ourselves. I’m sure we can find something to do that for us.”

We traveled down the hallway. Our way illuminated by the glow of Gypsy’s flames.

At the end of the hall was an elevator, and because there was no power in the building, was just nothing but a box on a wire.

Near the elevator door we found another door. This one was marked ’Stairs’.

We open the door and entered the stairway. On the wall was the number 23 painted in bright orange numbers.

“Crap!” Stevil said.

“Why crap?” I asked.

Stevil answered “23 means 23 floors and since we are at ground level. That means that there are 23 floors below us.”

When we looked down the center of the stair well we could see the stair winding down, round and round down into the darkness.

Then from below we heard growling.

Then a sound like running on cement.

The sounds were growing louder.

I looked over the railing and down. What I saw was an abomination.

Coming up the stairway with cat like speed and the agility of a spider monkey, was a creature the size of a small pony. It had huge paws for feet and large pointy claws at the ends of its arms. It head looked like a cross between a lion and a shark. Feline shaped and a massive amount of pointy teeth. It had no fur and its skin had the appearance of burnt flesh. The muscles underneath that flesh would have put a body builder on Venice Beach to shame.

Stevil stepped to the front of the group, shot gun at the ready. He waited for the creature to round the stairs.

The creature had a different idea and leapt over the handrail and bound up the center of the stairwell, covering the distance between us in two mighty leaps.

It swung back onto the stairs right behind Stevil.

Stevil swung around and started to bring his weapon up.

The creature was faster and swatted Stevil away as if he were an annoying insect.

The blow of the Creature was so strong that it lifted Stevil off his feet and sent him flying into a nearby wall.

We are heard a loud crack as Stevil’s head came into contact with the unforgiving concrete wall. A trial of bright red blood stained the wall as Stevil’s body slid to the floor and lay in a crumpled heap.

The rest of us unleashed everything we had on the creature.

All of us, except for Snipe.

Snipe leapt at the beast. All around him, bullets were striking, but he didn’t seem to notice of even care.

Snipe moved to strike the creature high in the face. The creature move its great apelike arms to grab Snipe.

Snipe dropped to the ground and with the loudest yell I have ever heard, delivered a sweeping kick to the things ankles.

The creatures feet come off the ground.

The force of our shots started it flipping head first over the railing.

Snipe grabbed its feet and gave soul wrenching yell of anger and anguish and shoved it the rest of the way over.

I looked over the railing and watched as the creature flip tail over tea kettle, gaining speed until it vanish from sight.

A few seconds later we all heard a wet, deep, smacking sound. Like a watermelon hitting the pavement.

Snipe stooped down and retrieved Stevil’s fallen shot gun then turn back to look at the rest of us. “ Come on. We have work to do.”

Snipe led the way down the stairs.

As we descended, Stevil’s vacant eye’s watched us pass.

Episode 33

 

We traveled down the winding staircase in silent determination. The realization that one of us had fallen weighed heavily on each of our hearts and minds.

I took my place at the rear of the column. Snipe was in the lead, then Robert, then the ladies.

“What are we going to tell him?” Robert asked Snipe.

“What?” Snipe said.

Robert answered, ” What are we going to tell Ding. We told him we would watch out for his dad.”

Snipe just looked at Robert. Eyes wet, lip trembling. He said nothing. He just turned and continued down the stairs.

As we continued downward I called out the numbers painted on the wall, as floor by floor, their value decreased by one.

Finally the stairs came to an end.

Observation.

Going down stairs is easier than going up.

That being said. If you go down 23 floors of steps…your legs still hurt like a bitch.

Stepping off the stairs and into the room we saw a large vault like door on one wall, the door to the non-working elevator on another and an oozing mass of goo in the center of the floor.

Snipe sniffed deep and long and hawked with a wrenched throaty sound, ensuring that the loogie would be vast and thick.

Snipe walked to the oozing mass in the floor and spit dead center.

“Fuck You!” Snipe shouted.

He then unzipped his pants and proceeded to piss on the remains of the creature that had kill his best friend.

Robert walked up next to Snipe and reacted in kind.

Steve was my friend also and I knew he would like this kind of send off so I whipped it out and let flow also.

The Girls just stared at our testosterone laden bonding ritual.

“Ah.. we’re with you in spirit.” Kathy said.

Rellie just stared dumbstruck, “I didn’t think it was THAT cold in here.”

Episode 34

 

Gypsy drifted over to the huge vault like door. Her hair danced in a wind that was experienced by no one else. Silver flames danced from fingertip to finger tip.

There were no whites to her eyes, the sockets were fill with black orbs of infinite depth. Like small universes filled with bright silver shooting stars.

We all went to the vault door.

Robert spoke, “Gypsy, are you…?”

“It is nearly time to rest.” She said with a smile.

I took a step back, Gypsy’s my friend and all but this was really getting weird, and if you take into account all the things that had happened in the last few days you can understand that I had just about reached my weird quota.

Snipe checked to se if the door had been left open. No use being shown up by the women twice in one adventure, but it was locked. It had a numeric pad and a tumbler style combination dial lock.

Snipe made quick work of the numeric pad, but when it came to the combination dial, he just scratched his head.

Now let me say that I am not a huge fan of old movies. Yet as a child there was one that I would watch whenever I could.

It starred Tony Curtis in what I consider to be his best role ever, ” Houdini!”

Houdini is probably the best know escape artist of all time. In fact in my “Show-off Show” I pay tribute to my hero by escaping from a straitjacket.

What a lot of folks don’t know is that my youthful study of Houdini lead me to learn the secrets of lock picking and safe cracking.

It wasn’t until later in my performing career that I realized escaping from a safe, although very manly and cool, involved carting around a VERY heavy prop. Thus the straitjacket.

So with the voice of my childhood hero whispering in my ear, I went to work on the combination dial.

Eyes closed I concentrated on my finger tips.

In old movies, the guy always puts his ear to the door of the safe and listens. In reality, with training, you can feel the tumblers with you fingertips.

The dial was top notch and smooth, so I had to proceed very slowly. Finally after a few minutes that had seemed like hours, I heard and felt a click.

Snipe and Robert began to turn the massive wheel on the door.

I made sure I had a full magazine in my SKS, with two more in easy reach.

Rellie and Kathy had their weapons poised at the spot where the door would crack open.

Gypsy stood at the center point of where the opening would be once the vault door had finished it’s journey.

Her hair had turned silver white. She held her chin high, arms outstretched, silver white bolts of power crackling and arching from palm to palm.

The Vault door slowly and smoothly swung open.

 

 

 

Episode 35

 

Beyond the door was a large room. From the looks of the equipment strewn about the floor it was a lab of some kind.

It was quiet. In the center of the room, suspended by a web of throbbing human flesh, was the meteor.

“Balance must be restored.” Gypsies said in a far away voice not her own.

Gypsy slowly moved into the room.

Across the room low to the floor I saw a flash of movement low to the ground.

“Snipe!” I called out.

“Saw it!” Snipe said as he stepped into the room brandishing Stevil’s shotgun.

Robert followed him in, and Uzi in each hand.

Snipe and Robert stepped in front of Gypsy and stood shoulder to shoulder.

Kathy, Rellie and I took the hint and completed the protective circle around Gypsy.

I was in the rear walking backward and Kathy and Rellie were on opposite shoulders.

We traveled deeper into the room. What had earlier just been a flash at the corner of my vision now came fully into view.

Creatures the size of large hounds scurried behind the desks and workstations of the lab.

One jump up onto a work table. it was hairless and had a long pointed nose and huge mouth full of sharp looking teeth, a squat body and a long furless tail.

“Oh my God,” Said Rellie, “They’re Lab rats!”

Once she had said it her description rang true.

The sounds of their scurrying began to surround us.

More and more of the creatures began to jump up on desks and work stations. Although none were as large as the first one they were dangerous looking none the less.

The First one, whom I will call “Ben”, was looking from table to table as the number of new rat began to grow.

As they arrived they kept watching “Ben” as if waiting for a signal.

We were watching the rodent creatures so intently that we nearly missed a rather freaky manifestation, as faces began to appear on the webs of flesh that held up the meteor.

The faces spoke in voices that sounded like a choir of out of tune violins, “Child of Jesu and Gaia, we have no reason for conflict, join with us and know the cosmic peace.”

Gypsy answered back in a voice that rang true like the most perfect of duets. As her mouth moved masculine and female voices uttered forth in the excellent of harmonies,” Soul Eater, our children are not for thee. Release them now and go your way.”

The Soul Eater spoke again and the rodents began to get agitated, “Your time has past. You gave your children choice and they choose Chaos. I will bring them order.”

The Power in Gypsy spoke, “You bring them slavery!”

Gypsy raised her hands high. Silver white energy pulsed from the earth up her body and arched across her outstretched palms.

From the center of the arch, a bolt of power flowed forth and engulfed the Meteor.

The faces in the web of flesh screamed in anger, pain and agony.

The sound that emitted from the faces was so horrible, so sorrowful, that we all nearly dropped to our knees in despair.

Imagine the most sorrowful feelings you have ever had in your life.

The time you didn’t get the job.

The death of a beloved pet.

The death of a relationship.

The death of a loved one.

Multiply that crushing sorrow you felt by a thousand, and you will be able to understand just a portion of the impact those fiendish faces of flesh were having upon our souls.

The emotional pain we felt tore through our souls like a chain saw through tissue paper.

In the overwhelming despair, we each ‘knew‘ suicide was our only answer.

The Souls Eater laughed.

“Kill Them!” It shouted.

The giant rats leapt at us.

Episode 36

 

The huge rat that I had named ‘Ben’, launched itself at Robert and Snipe. It was closely followed by two slightly smaller rodents.

In a circle around us the other rodents screamed a high pitched squeal, and with teeth bared and razor like claws raised, they joined the fray.

Now some folks might think that once we were in a near suicidal frame of mind, that we would be easy pickings.

EEEEEE wrong answer!

As a buddy of mine who had not only been to the deep pits of depression, but was a tour guide there with his own shovel, had once told me.

“Offing yourself is about taking control. When you get attacked, no matter how depressed you are, you fight back because someone is taking control away from you again, and that just pisses you off.”

And we…..were being attacked.

Snipe let loose with the shotgun and a fireball exploded from the double barreled dealer of destruction and tore ‘Ben’ in half in mid leap.

Looking like Keanu Reeves in the ‘Matrix’, just taller and with better hair, Robert cut the two smaller rodents in half with 9mm hollow point round bursting from the twin Uzi’s.

Gypsy kept moving toward the meteor as Rellie and Kathy dealt death to the rodents as they leapt at Gypsy. The rodent exploded in mid flight as the warrior women shot them out of the air like clay pigeons.

I did my best to keep us from being surrounded, the deafening report of the SKS spewing destruction with each and every shot I took.

Finally we arrived at the Meteor.

Gypsy reached up and placed both hands on the space rock. The silver light about her burning even brighter.

The web of flesh that held the rock aloft began to bubble and decay.

The light that surrounded Gypsy grew even brighter.

The rodents no longer attacked but rolled and squirmed about the floor as if having seizures.

The light exploded and we felt but did not hear a deep thump.

Then there was darkness……

When we awoke.

The rats were healed and back to normal.

The flesh web was gone.

The meteor was gone.

Gypsy was gone.

Thinking that she might be hurt we began searching the lab, but there was not a trace of our friend.

For a moment we just stared at each other stunned.

Then we heard a familiar voice from the doorway.

“Where the hell are we and how’d we get here?” Steve said.

Snipe just ran up to him and gave him a bear hug as the rest of us just patted him on the back and wrapped our arms around each other in a group hug.

“Well?” Steve said to me.

“No freakin’ clue.” I said.

The End

 

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